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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27842776">Day One</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicorobinenthusiast/pseuds/nicorobinenthusiast'>nicorobinenthusiast</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Seven Days [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Marching Band, F/F, F/M, Modern AU, Rich Bitch!Nefertari Vivi, Sanji Is Not A Vinsmoke, implied eating disorder</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:14:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,876</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27842776</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicorobinenthusiast/pseuds/nicorobinenthusiast</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s the first day of band camp, and Nami is the leader of the mellophone section. As much as she loves (actually, “love” is a strong word) marching band, she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to afford to continue the activity. That is, until later this day.</p>
<p>A blue haired, snarky, color guard freshman catches her eye. Who is this girl that has wandered into Nami’s life? Is she here to stay?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bell-mère/Genzo (One Piece), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Monkey D. Luffy &amp; Nami &amp; Roronoa Zoro &amp; Usopp &amp; Vinsmoke Sanji, Nami &amp; Roronoa Zoro, Nami &amp; Usopp (One Piece), Nami &amp; Vinsmoke Sanji, Nami/Nefertari Vivi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Seven Days [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2038072</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Early Morning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nami gets ready for band camp.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>      Beep. Beep. Buh-beep.  </em>
</p><p>     The alarm on Nami’s phone was painfully loud, loud enough to make her yell into her pillow at the noise.</p><p>     “Oh, my God, shut the fuck up!” she groans. Unfortunately, willing the alarm to cease noise isn't enough to actually make it stop. Nami flips over and uses the momentum of her roll to lift her arm and smack the screen of her phone until the blaring comes to a close. She fights the urge to fall back asleep while grabbing her phone. <em> 6:00 AM </em>. There is a notification on the screen from the calendar app: “band camp! 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM.” Ah, right. Band camp.</p><p>     Nami had mixed feelings for marching band. On one hand, marching band was pretty fun. She met lots of new people like Zoro and Sanji who were her best (and only) friends in Paradise High School. Although it was physically grueling, it did get Nami out of having to take a gym class, which was the main reason why she even continued the activity. The other hand, however, was quite dirty.</p><p>     For starters, band camp was absolutely the lowlight of the entire experience. Thirteen hours a day spent around a bunch of sweaty, smelly, ugly band kids for an entire week of her summer did not sound appealing to Nami in the slightest. She wasn’t very good at playing her instrument and she wasn’t what one would call a strong mover, but this activity requires moving and playing at the same time. It simply wasn’t gonna happen. Nami must have thought that marching band would be easier than some other sports, and she would be right if we are thinking physically. But, marching band requires another skill: willpower to get through all of band camp alive. Nami was lacking. Marching band already sounded bad enough, and that’s without the financial demands. Holy shit, was marching band expensive. It cost one hundred dollars just to say you were going to participate. When you add the cost of uniforms, undershirts, marching shoes, and meal plans, it all comes out to be way too much for Nami’s single mother to handle. Nami had every reason to drop out of marching band. Yet, here she was. On the first Sunday of August. Her second band camp. As leader of the mellophone section, a position she managed to snag as a sophomore.</p><p>     Nami stares at the notification for a bit before she fiddles with her phone, then places it on her ear. She lies on her back until she hears a groggy voice in her ear. “Hello?”</p><p>     “Good morning~,” Nami sits up in her bed.</p><p>     “Ugh, Nami, why are you calling me this early?” the voice groans.</p><p>     “Because, Zoro,” Nami says, losing the singsong tone in her voice. “I know you wouldn’t wake up on your own. You should be thanking me, honestly.”</p><p>     “But it’s six AM? I don't need as much time to get ready as you do.”</p><p>     “I’m giving you extra time to compensate for the time you’ll lose when you’re lost, trying to find your way to school. We both know you’ll need it.”</p><p>     There is a moment of silence before Zoro tsks in defeat. Nami knows him way too well. “It’s not my fault the roads are so damn confusing.”</p><p>     “You have literally lived in this town your entire life!” Nami sighs, exasperated at Zoro’s sheer dumbassery. “Not to mention that you are a <em> junior </em> at Paradise! How do you not know the way there by yourself yet?”</p><p>     Nami can tell that Zoro is trying to hide his embarrassment. “Shut up!” He yawns. “Whatever. See you at school.”</p><p>     The singsong returns. “See ya!” Nami starts to remove her phone from her ear to end the call, but she interrupts herself, “Oh, don't forget your trombone!”</p><p>     “Why would I forget to bring my trombone to marching band?” Zoro says flatly.</p><p>     “Because you did last year,” Nami chuckles. “Honestly, I don’t even know how you managed to show up to marching band and leave the band at home. Love y—“</p><p>     Zoro hangs up before Nami can finish her sentence. Nami looks down at the phone in her hand, then sighs with a small smile on her face. Zoro may be quite the idiot, but she can’t help but love the guy. She wasn’t quite sure why he joined marching band in the first place. Zoro is literally the definition of a gym rat and he wasn’t good at playing the trombone by any margin. He could've taken gym class and he would’ve been fine. Hm. Nami interrupts her thoughts to put her phone to sleep as she finally leaves her bed, but putting the phone to sleep turns out to be pointless as it immediately reawakens as Nami’s hand is hit by a barrage of vibrations. Sanji’s awake.</p><p>     Nami can’t help but roll her eyes. She loves Sanji just as much as she loves Zoro, but calling Sanji “occasionally overbearing” is an understatement. She looks down at her ever-buzzing phone and watches a wave of text messages sweep over her lock screen.</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>Good morning Nami!!</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>How are you this morning? How did you sleep?</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>How does it feel to be a section leader at band camp for the first time!!</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>Ah, the mellophones are so lucky to have a section leader as beautiful as youuu~</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>Please eat breakfast today!!! &lt;3</p><p>     The sight of Sanji’s last message urges Nami to stop Sanji’s assault on her phone’s notification center.</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>gm whore</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>sleep was ok, probably better than zoro, i had to call him to make sure he woke up lmao</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>Was he awake lol</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>ofc not lmao</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>Can’t trust a marimo with anything lololol</p><p>     Nami pauses for a moment. <em> Please eat breakfast today</em>. The fuck?</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>also y did u tell me to eat breakfast like that lmao</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>Like what</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>like i’m not gonna do it</p><p><b>Sanji</b>:</p><p>Bc you don’t sometimes</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>Ik you think skipping meals is gonna help yr mom w/ money and stuff but you gotta stop doing that</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>You’ll only weaken yr muscles &amp; organs</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>Plus all of the groceries yr mom buys for you and Nojiko will only go to waste</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>&amp; you’ll be hungry during drill &amp; stuff</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>You know I don’t like seeing you hungry</p><p>
  <b>Sanji:</b>
</p><p>Please eat breakfast today Nami.</p><p>     Nami reads the messages, but she doesn’t respond at first. Fuck. Sanji has her in an awkward spot. Nami knows that Sanji is right. The way he knows her is honestly unsettling. The two had only known each other since last year, but the way they spoke to each other would make you think they had known each other for their entire lives. He even brought up Nojiko, Nami’s older sister. Nami’s eyes drag over Sanji’s last, all-knowing message for a few seconds before finally responding.</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>nojiko has work l8r and can’t take me home</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>u got me?</p><p><b>Sanji:</b> </p><p>Ofc!!</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>ty love</p><p>     Nami tosses her phone onto her bed before walking to her bathroom to take her morning shower. The water is always too cold. She finishes bathing and exits the shower to comb through her short, bright orange hair. All the while, Sanji’s messages appear on the jumbotron of her thought stadium to an audience of her brain cells. It’s true that Nami stopped eating as much so her mother’s money could be spent somewhere more important, like on rent. The landlord, Arlong, was the blueprint of evil. His rent was unreasonably high, especially for the area they lived in. The cost of living was constantly on the rise with the ever-failing economy and Nami’s mother struggled to keep up. Nojiko and their mother were both working to keep the three of them afloat, so Nami felt that she should at least do <em> something </em> to lighten the load. Skipping breakfast felt like second nature.</p><p>     Nami leaves the bathroom after drying and styling her hair into two low pigtails and getting dressed in athletic wear. She returns to her bedroom and checks her phone. <em> 6:47 AM </em>. Nami unlocks her phone and opens her messaging app. She scrolls through her past conversations with Sanji, Nojiko, Zoro… until she presses her screen and begins typing.</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>what’s up BITCH</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>Good morning to u too Nami</p><p>     Usopp is Nami’s oldest and closest friend. The pair had known each other since middle school where they had met each other while hugging East Blue Middle School’s gymnasium walls in an attempt to avoid being hit by dodgeballs. After that, they were practically inseparable until Nami left Usopp behind in middle school while she moved on to high school. But, now that Usopp is a freshman, the two can finally reunite.</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>how u feelin</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>u excited?</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>How excited can I rlly be for b a n d</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>tru tru</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>what section r u in again?</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>Front ensemble</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>Marimba babey</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>oh word? i thought you were marching trumpet</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>That’s what I was gonna do b4 but marching in the blazing heat w a bunch of TRUMPETERS is not appealing,,,,,</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>fax, marching fuckin SUCKS</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>Forever thankful that front ensemble gets to stay inside until the end of the day &gt;:))</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>Btw Luffy’s also in mb</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>LUFFY???</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>like monkey d luffy??</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>Yes ma’am</p><p>     Luffy went to the same middle school as Nami and Usopp. He wasn’t very well acquainted with Nami, but they know each other through Usopp, whose father was a coworker of a family friend of Luffy’s. Luffy didn’t have many friends of his own besides Usopp, but it’s not like he was a loner. He was actually quite popular (albeit for all the wrong reasons, but popular nonetheless). It’s almost as if Luffy had a power to make anyone he met love him. Well, with the exception of the staff members.</p><p>     Picture the model student. You’re envisioning a well behaved student who is on top of all of their assignments with a 4.0 GPA, right? Luffy was the exact opposite of that. He was always talking in class, interrupting teachers, and generally being a huge pain in the ass for every staff member plagued with the task of dealing with him. Luffy’s presence finally came to an end after he was suspended from East Blue for punching Charlos Rosward, the son of Superintendent Rosward, straight in the face and breaking his nose. Luffy’s name never left the mouths of students and staff alike after that. </p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>BRUH I THOUGHT HE GOT EXPELLED FROM THE DISTRICT????</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>THATS WHAT I THOUGHT TOO</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>But nah Luffy told me he only got suspended but his gramps pulled him out of school after It happened</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>fr?</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>holy shit i haven’t heard from him in forever</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>wait what section is luffy even in</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>He’s on cymbals</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>that… makes sense…….</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>Quite befitting for the monkey that he is</p><p>     Nami envisions a wind-up, cymbal-banging monkey toy. She smiles and exhales through her nose.</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>aldhskhdks plssss</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>i’ll talk to u later i gotta go get breakfast</p><p>
  <b>Usopp:</b>
</p><p>Aight cya</p><p>     Sanji’s words had quite the influence over Nami, and it is evident as she makes her way to her kitchen to grab a tangerine and a granola bar. While peeling the citrus, she realizes her food choices don’t <em> quite </em> make a meal, but the fact that she’s eating at all is what matters, right? For Sanji’s sake. Nami pauses, opens her phone’s Snapchat app, and takes a picture of the half-peeled tangerine and unopened granola bar. She captions it, “u happy?” and sends it to a user nicknamed “fruit #1.” A handful of seconds later, she receives two Snaps from fruit #1. First, a blurry picture that caught glimpses of a curly eyebrow and a blond mess of hair, captioned, “Yay!!!!!!!!” The second is a clearer picture of the curly-eyebrowed, blond mess that is Sanji, smiling, captioned, “So proud of u babe :3.” Nami opens both Snaps and finds herself smiling. Wow. She didn’t realize how much she wanted (or needed, rather) to see those words.</p><p>     “You seem awfully happy,” an alto voice rings out by the front door, a set of keys jingling with it.</p><p>     Nami rolls her eyes. There is no malice in her voice as she says, “Shut up.”</p><p>     ”Let’s see here…” The body carrying the alto voice walks into the kitchen and peers over Nami’s shoulder at her phone. “Sanji?”</p><p>     Nami didn’t know the Snap from Sanji was still on her phone screen. She quickly taps the phone screen to exit out of the Snap and presses the phone’s power button. A pair of royal azure eyes meets Nami’s deep brown as she lifts her head. She feels her cheeks burn up. She watches the blue eyes begin to smile. “Wait, Nojiko, it’s not like that—“</p><p>     “Sanji…” Nojiko chuckles. “I didn’t know you liked him like that.”</p><p>     “I <em> don’t </em>.”</p><p>     “Then, why are you blushing so hard?”</p><p>     “That doesn’t matter,” Nami declares, turning away from her older sister. She <em> was </em> blushing pretty hard, but only because Sanji is so… Sanji. He had literally just called her “babe.” Oh, God, what if Nojiko saw Sanji nearly <em>flirting</em> with her?</p><p>     “What did he even say? I could only see, like, part of his face.”</p><p>     “Don't worry about it!” Nami quickly sputters.</p><p>     “‘Don't worry about it?’” Nojiko starts to chuckle. “C’mon, lemme see!” she persists as she reaches for the phone in her younger sister’s hand.</p><p>     Nami pulls her arm out of Nojiko’s reach. “I already closed out of it, so it doesn’t matter!”</p><p>     “Aww, you’re no fun,” Nojiko teases, pouting.</p><p>     Nami takes notice of Nojiko’s pout and giggles. “You look stupid.”</p><p>     “No, you!” Nojiko laughs. “By the way, why are you up this early?”</p><p>     “Band camp, dumbass,” Nami stuffs a few tangerine slices in her mouth. “I told you, like, last week. You said you’d take me.”</p><p>     “Oh fuck, that’s right.” Nojiko exclaims as she drapes herself on the living room couch. “I can’t take you home later today, though.”</p><p>     “I know,” Nami calls out. She hesitates. “S...Sanji’s giving me a ride later.”</p><p>     “Woo, go Sanji!!” Nojiko hoots.</p><p>     “Would you keep it down?!” Nami whisper-yells. “You’re gonna wake up mom!”</p><p>     “Too late,” a tired, mezzo-soprano voice interjects from the direction of the apartment’s bedrooms. A tall, fuschia-haired woman emerges from the room next to Nami’s. “I’ve been awake since Nojiko got here, actually.”</p><p>     “Because you’re so fucking <em> loud </em>, Nojiko!” Nami half-jokes.</p><p>     “Ugh, mom?!” Nojiko grumbles. Nami puts the last slice of tangerine in her mouth as she turns her head with her sister’s to face their mother, awaiting a response.</p><p>     “No, your sister’s right,” the girls’ mother confirms. Her remark earns a frustrated huff from Nojiko and a grin from Nami. “But watch yer goddamn mouth, Nami. I know I didn’t raise you to be so vulgar.”</p><p>     Nami raises her eyebrow at her mother’s hypocrisy, sighs with a shrug of the shoulders, and turns away to open her granola bar. “Alright. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”</p><p>     The mother yawns and walks into the kitchen to brew some coffee. “I heard Nojiko yelling about some Sanji kid. Which one is that again? The one with the green hair?”</p><p>     Nami has the granola bar barely between her teeth as she freezes at the sound of Sanji’s name. She hears Nojiko snickering in the living room. She exhales and bites down. “No, that’s Zoro. Sanji’s got the curly eyebrow, remember?” Nami makes a twirling gesture with her finger at her forehead.</p><p>     “Oh, that one! I don't know how I forgot.” The mother shoots a brief look in the direction of her younger daughter. “He’s kind of handsome, y’know.”</p><p>     “Mom!” Nami embarrassedly hisses between mouthfuls of granola. “Quit talking about my friends like that. It’s so…” She visibly and audibly shudders. She hears that Nojiko and their mother are laughing. Her face burns hotter with every “ha-ha.” She shoves the last of the granola bar in her mouth and struggles, but eventually succeeds to swallow. She feels a clap of a hand on her shoulder. </p><p>     Her mother comes down from laughing. “Ah, you know I’m only joking, Nami. But…” Her grey eyes meet Nami’s face. “...if you wanted to date that Sanji boy, I wouldn’t mind.”</p><p>     “<em> Mom! </em>” Nami nearly yelps. She sighs. “I am NOT going to date Sanji. He’s not my type in the slightest.”</p><p>     “Then, what <em> is </em>your type?”</p><p>     “Literally the exact opposite of Sanji.”</p><p>     “So, like Zoro?” Nojiko adds. “He’s pretty much the opposite of Sanji. Real hunky too.”</p><p>     “Not…!” Nami huffs. “I didn’t mean it like that.” She grabs the granola bar wrapper and tangerine peels and discards them. She catches the time on the kitchen’s microwave. “Hey, it’s 7:11, Nojiko. We gotta leave soon.”</p><p>     “When are we leaving?”</p><p>     “In, like… ten minutes?”</p><p>     “Got it. Lemme get ready real quick.” Nojiko rises from the couch and walks into her and Nami’s shared room.</p><p>     The girls’ mother turns to Nami once more. “Why… why are you guys leaving this early?”</p><p>     “Band camp,” Nami replies.</p><p>     “Band camp… Oh, shit!” her mother smacks her own forehead. As she lowers her hand, she adds, “I’m sorry, baby, I forgot. I would’ve taken you myself if I remembered.”</p><p>     “Mom, it’s okay, really,” Nami assures. “Besides, you can just take me some other time. Oh, and I have a ride home today, so you don’t need to worry about me.”</p><p>     “Oh. Okay…” her mother responds. She sounds… a little dejected. Nami hopes she’s just overanalyzing the tone in her response. The sound of her mom’s voice breaks her train of thought. “Well, call me if anything changes, okay? I’ll be there as soon as I can.”</p><p>     “Will do.”</p><p>     The air becomes somewhat awkward as Nami leaves the kitchen to sit at their small dining table and scroll through Twitter. Her mother pours coffee into a mug and takes a few quiet sips. Silence.</p><p> </p><p>     After a few minutes, the silence is finally broken. “Why are we leaving so early?” Nojiko asks while walking back into the living room. “I thought this thing started at eight.”</p><p>     “Mr. Brook wants section leaders there early,” Nami answers, not looking up from her phone.</p><p>     “Mr. Brook? That old man’s still alive?”</p><p>     “Why are you talking about him like you didn’t see him literally last year?” Nami puts her phone to sleep, sustaining her downward gaze at the table beneath her. “But, yeah, it’s like he has multiple lives or something.”</p><p>     Nojiko giggles. “Right? Oh, my God!” She retrieves her keys and returns to the couch. “Hey, I’m ready to go when you are.”</p><p>     “Yeah, yeah, just hang on. I gotta get my water and stuff.” Nami gets up from her seat and looks at her sister. “What the hell are you wearing? You look… less ready than you did before.</p><p>     “Shut up,” Nojiko scolds. Nami was right, though. Nojiko has changed from her work uniform into sweatpants and a tank top, her periwinkle hair pushed out of her face by a rose-colored headband. She runs her fingers through her hair as she tells Nami, “Well, whatever. Go get your shit already.”</p><p>     Nami is already walking into their room in the middle of Nojiko’s sentence. She grabs her mellophone, water jug, and straps a fanny pack to her waist. She walks back into the kitchen past her mom and fills the jug with water from the kitchen sink. As she goes to leave the kitchen, her mother beckons her.</p><p>     “Hey.” Her mother’s tone has softened from its former subtle sadness.</p><p>     Nami faces her mother as she raises her eyebrow in acknowledgement. “Yeah?”</p><p>     Nami’s mother makes eye contact with her. She cups her daughter’s face with her hands and kisses its forehead. “Have fun, okay?” She earns a nod from Nami. “I love you.”</p><p>     Nami closes her eyes and smiles. “I love you, too.” She checks the microwave’s clock once more. <em> 7:23 </em>. “Let’s go, Nojiko.” Nami walks to the door and struggles to turn its handle with her hands full of her phone, water jug, and mellophone, but eventually manages to get it open. She walks out of the apartment, Nojiko following close behind. The older of the two flashes a quick smile at their mother, who responds with a small wave, before fully exiting the apartment and closing its door. And, with that, Nami is on her way to the first day of band camp.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>wahhh thank you so much for reading this first chapter!! i have no idea if the conversation between nami/nojiko/bell-mère is accurate (i have mommy issues and a strained relationship with literally every member of my family lmao) so bear with me. other than that, second chapter? maybe! who knows.............<br/>(this chapter is also very much so just exposition/partial rising action i’m so sorry.....)<br/>edit (12/25/20): hiiii i edited some stuff for grammar, ik it doesn't really matter if this is ur first read OR if you've already read this chapter, but wtv lol<br/>edit (1/27/21): hi sorry i keep editing things. i have changed the name of the school to "paradise" and i have changed the formatting of the text exchanges</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Late Morning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nami makes it to school for the first day of band camp.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     Nami and Nojiko make their way out of the apartment complex and into the parking lot. Nojiko unlocks her beaten, old car and enters it, while Nami loads her mellophone and water jug into its backseat, as the trunk had stopped opening years ago. Nami enters the car as Nojiko sticks a Paramore disc into the car’s CD player. </p><p>     “You good to go?” Nojiko inquires, starting the car after a few unsuccessful attempts.</p><p>     “Yup,” Nami confirms, settling into the passenger’s seat.  Nojiko drives off right after Nami buckles in her seatbelt.</p><p>     “Was it just me, or was Mom acting kinda weird when I walked back in?” Nojiko asks, irresponsibly lifting her left foot onto her seat.</p><p>     “Definitely not just you,” Nami begins. “She got all quiet and weird when I told her not to worry about me because I have a ride later.”</p><p>     “Well, what did you expect to happen when you told <em> Bell-Mère </em>not to worry? Worrying is in her nature!”</p><p>     “I guess,” Nami verifies as she turns on her phone to scroll through her various social media.</p><p>     Bell-Mère took Nami and Nojiko under her wing on a whim. She was walking home from work on a rainy night when she heard shrieking from the alleyway next to her. She immediately stopped in her tracks, went into the alleyway, and found two girls: one around two years old, one a few months, both sickly, dirty, and starving.</p><p>     “Oh, my God, what happened to you two?” Bell-Mère asked the older of the two. The girl didn’t respond, most likely out of fear. Regardless, Bell-Mère continued, “What are your names?”</p><p>     A few silent seconds passed, then the girl pointed to herself. “N-Nojiko.” She gestured to the baby laid next to her. “I don’t know her.”</p><p>     “Nojiko, will you come with me?” Bell-Mère held out her hand for the toddler. “I’ll get help for you two.”</p><p>     Nojiko took the hand. She looked Bell-Mère in the eyes. “Please help us,” she pleaded as her eyes misted. Bell-Mère nodded in acceptance of the task, picked up the crying baby, and the three made their way to the nearest police station. Bell-Mère convinced the police station to allow her to take the girls home, and home they went. </p><p>     “What the hell did you say?” a tanned man with a thick mustache sitting on Bell-Mère’s bed yelled.</p><p>     “I’m gonna be these kids’ parent,” Bell-Mère calmly stated after pointing in the direction of the living room couch that the children were sleeping on. “That’s what I said.”</p><p>     “You can’t!” the man insisted. “You can’t possibly raise children. Take my advice and give them up to the government, babe.”</p><p>     Bell-Mère was yelling now, too. “I’ve already made up my mind! Do you know how many orphaned children don’t get adopted? So many of them age out of the system! I’m not letting those two go through that. I’m <em> going </em> to raise these children. I’m gonna raise them to be wonderful people who won’t lose to the sick world we live in!”</p><p>     “It doesn’t matter if you’ve made up your mind! You can barely keep yourself afloat. When it’s your turn to pay rent, you’re almost always late. You starve yourself to save money. Your job barely pays you enough to buy your own fucking sweat. How the hell do you expect to take care of two more people, <em> children </em> at that?!”</p><p>     “I don’t give a fuck, Genzo!” Bell-Mère’s face burned with anger. “If you were there, maybe you’d’ve understood. You would’ve seen the misery in their faces. You would’ve heard the sadness in Nojiko’s voice as she begged for help. I don't care what the situation is; you can’t just turn your back on a child crying for help!”</p><p>     “Then, what about us, babe?” the man named Genzo asked, finally calming down. “What about me? I can't do this with you.”</p><p>     “Then, don’t.” Bell-Mère’s face was cold and her tone was flat. “Pack your shit and leave. I’m not living for you; I’m living for Nojiko and Nami.”</p><p>     Genzo stared at Bell-Mère, astonished, before he sighed in defeat. “Fine.” </p><p>     And so, Genzo began to pack his shit. Bell-Mère helped, only to make the process faster. The two barely spoke to each other the entire time, making the air extremely tense. Any mere mortal walking into that space would suffocate.</p><p>     “What are you gonna do about rent?” Genzo asked, shoving a couple socks into a suitcase. “You can barely pay every other month. What are you gonna do when I’m gone?”</p><p>     “I’ll figure it out,” Bell-Mère plainly answered , taking trinkets off of a shelf and placing them in a string bag. “I’ll do... something.”</p><p>     “Alright.”</p><p>     Quiet.</p><p>     Bell-Mère and Genzo finished packing after what seemed like an eternity of silence. He had his foot in the door when he finally spoke. “Goodbye, Bell-Mère. I wish you the best.”</p><p>     “Yeah,” Bell-Mère grunted in acknowledgement. Genzo shut the door behind him without another word.</p><p> </p><p>     It has been sixteen years since Bell-Mère took Nojiko and Nami in. The two girls aren’t <em> technically </em>Bell-Mère’s daughters, but the three of them love each other as if they were all along. Sure, rent was difficult to keep up with, and they didn’t have the nicest living arrangement, but they were all content. At least, that’s what Nami likes to think while she watches various buildings come into and leave her field of vision while Nojiko drives.</p><p>     Aside from various songs from <em> Riot! </em>, idle chat between the sisters, and the occasional nose-exhale of amusement from Nami scrolling through her timeline; the car ride to Paradise High School is quiet. It’s not awkward, though; it’s rather comforting.</p><p>     “Hey, watch where you’re fuckin’ going!” Nojiko yells, effectively startling Nami.</p><p>     “Jesus fucking Christ!” Nami whines with a complementary eye roll. “It’s not like they’re gonna hear you through the car!”</p><p>     “If I’m loud enough, they will!” Nojiko jokes.</p><p>     “Bruh.”</p><p>     “Do <em> not </em> ‘bruh’ me, asshole.” Nojiko makes an abrupt turn into the school’s parking lot. “Look. We’re here.” She points to the school’s football stadium where morning rehearsal is taking place.</p><p>     “Yeah, yeah.” Nami dismissively waves her hand in front of her face. She presses her phone’s power button to check the time. <em>7:44</em> <em>AM</em>. Right on time. She unbuckles her seatbelt, exits the vehicle, and retrieves her mellophone and water jug from the backseat. She shuts the backseat door with her hip and walks back up to the passenger window. “Bye!” she barks through the window with a bitchy, but playful tone. Nojiko smiles before flipping off Nami and speeding away.</p><p>     Nami laughs to herself and walks into the stadium. There are already a few familiar faces: Conis, junior, clarinet section leader. Tamanegi, Piiman, Ninjin, juniors, trumpet section leaders. None of these faces, however, were the one she was looking for. Nami keeps wandering around the stadium, keeping her eyes peeled for a certain someone.</p><p>     “Nami!” a voice calls out from the concession stand area. Nami diverts her gaze to the direction the voice is coming from and sees a tall, slim boy, leaning on a support pillar, waving her over.</p><p>     “Sanji!” Nami smiles, then quickens her pace to meet her friend, who is the baritone section leader. She sets her mellophone and water jug next to his things.</p><p>     “You ready for this week?” Sanji asks.</p><p>     “Yeaaaaah,” Nami replies, sarcastically. She pumps a limp fist in the air, lazily lifts her opposite leg, and slouches as she adds, “I’m sooooo excited.”</p><p>     “Aww, chin up, hun,” Sanji purrs. “You nervous?”</p><p>     Nami sharply inhales and stands straight up. “Deathly.”</p><p>     “Don't be!” Sanji suggests. “You got section leader as a sophomore, which is already an achievement on its own. You’re doing better than, like, every other upperclassmen that applied. Plus, you’re cute as hell, so you have nothing to worry about!”</p><p>     “I know, I know.” Nami looks up at Sanji. “But I can’t help it! I’m not even half as good as most of the people here.”</p><p>     “But who’s the section leader?” Sanji interrupts.</p><p>     Nami pauses. “Me…”</p><p>     “Exactly,” Sanji slurs, reassuingly. He places his hand on Nami’s shoulder and makes eye contact with her. “You have nothing to worry about.” He smiles. Sanji has a really pretty smile.</p><p>     “Hah,” Nami tsks. “Easy for you to say. You’ve been section leader for two years now!”</p><p>     “Hey now, don’t rub it in that I couldn’t get area chair this season,” Sanji grumbles. “Even so, that just makes me more qualified to tell you that, don’t you think?” He smiles again.</p><p>     “I guess,” Nami reiterates, tucking an imaginary piece of hair behind her ear. She reflects on her conversation with Sanji. Was it really worth it to get so worked up over <em>marching band</em>? She concludes that it absolutely was not.</p><p>     More and more of the student leadership team pile into the stadium: the woodwind area chair, alto saxophone section leaders, all three drum majors. Sanji and Nami stand and chat, occasionally greeting fellow students, then a voice is heard over the stadium speakers. “Yohohoho! Leadership team, please gather your things and make your way onto the field for a pre-band camp pep talk, brought to you by your wonderful staff!”</p><p>     Nami and Sanji gather their instruments and water and make their way onto the field along with the rest of the student leadership. They all congregate around a trio of adults: a tall, tan woman with her chin cupped in her palm; a taller, blue-haired man who is wearing the least amount of clothes possible (literally just an unbuttoned dad shirt that exposes his chest and a bikini bottom); and a somehow even taller man whose afro looks to be sculpted by Venus herself.</p><p>     The man with the godly afro addresses the crowd first. “Good morning everyone! You all know me, band director, Mr. Brook. If you don’t know that already, what are you doing here? Yohoho!” Mr. Brook’s dad joke earns a few half-hearted smiles and chortles from the student body. He continues, “Are you all excited for band camp?!” There is a variety of whoops, claps, cheers in response. “That’s what I like to hear! Now, just like we discussed at leadership camp last week…”</p><p>     Sanji taps Nami’s foot with his own to get her attention. Nami looks up at him, waiting for whatever he has to say. In a hushed voice, he asks, “What are you doing for lunch?”</p><p>     “Lunch…” Nami begins. She pauses to think, then her eyes widen and she covers her mouth with her hand. Her hand muffles her speech as she says, “I forgot to pack a lunch.”</p><p>     Sanji lightly chuckles. “You’re such a dumbass. How are you gonna lead a section when you can’t even remember your lunch?”</p><p>     “Shut up,” Nami scowls as she lightly slaps Sanji’s arm. She pulls out her phone and starts fiddling with it. “Whatever. I’ll just tell my mom or Nojiko to bring me lunch or something later.”</p><p>     “Please tell Nojiko,” Sanji demands, looking directly at Nami.</p><p>     Nami raises an eyebrow. “What?” she laughs while looking back at Sanji. She returns to her phone. “Y'know what? I’m gonna tell my mom <em> specifically </em>because you said that.”</p><p>     “Tch. You’re no fun,” Sanji pouts.</p><p>     “I’m not gonna tell Nojiko to come here just ‘cause you think she’s hot!”</p><p>     “Why not?!”</p><p>     “Because that’s <em> weird! </em> ” Nami whines, slightly raising her voice which garners the attention of the various students around them. She feels the eyes of her peers watch her as she remembers her conversation with her older sister earlier that morning. It was already bad enough that Nojiko teased Nami about Sanji, so there is no way that she would put herself in a situation as embarrassing as that again. Hold on, why did even matter anyway? It’s not like she would even <em> consider </em> dating Sanji since they’re both--</p><p>     “Nami! Sanji!” a smooth voice interrupts Nami’s thoughts. The two teens look up to see the raven-haired woman looking back at them with a stern look on her face. “Are you two listening?”</p><p>     Nami’s face burns while Sanji’s reddens at the sudden scolding. The two synchronously lower their heads with shame, then Mr. Brook continues speaking. Nami finally breaks the silence when she whispers, “Christ, it’s like she has ears everywhere!”</p><p>     Sanji lightly chuckles. “Well, you <em> were </em> being pretty loud.”</p><p>     “Shut up,” Nami complains. She then returns her eyes to the tanned, raven-haired woman with perfect, umber eyes, and wonders exactly how loud she could get. Her thoughts begin to spiral until she hears--</p><p>     “Mmmmmm… SUPER!” the swimsuit-wearing, blue-haired man booms.</p><p>     “Ah, yes… go ahead and take it away, Franky.” Mr. Brook sheepishly announces. Nami thinks she hears Mr. Brook scowl something under his breath, but her attention is quickly taken by Franky’s impossibly beefy forearms clashing together, connecting each half of the star tattooed on them.</p><p>     “Sorry Mr. Brook,” Franky, the brass director and drill writer, continues ever-booming, lowering his arms, “but you were taking <em> way </em> too damn long.” Nami notices the raven-haired woman giggling at Franky’s antics and finds herself thinking, <em>God, I wish that were me. </em>Franky redirects his gaze to the audience of students. “How are you guys?!”</p><p>     The assortment of cheers returns while Nami simply sighs and returns to her phone to text her mother:</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>i forgot lunch, could you bring something from home?</p><p>     A few moments come and go, Franky’s booming voice filling the space between, before Nami finally receives a reply.</p><p>
  <b>Mom:</b>
</p><p>Would you like something from a restaurant or from home?</p><p>
  <b>     Nami:</b>
</p><p>home is fine</p><p>
  <b>Mom:</b>
</p><p>I have work so I can’t take it to you, I’m sorry. Nojiko will bring it to you</p><p>     Nami dejectedly sighs. Great. Nojiko was coming (to embarrass her). She sends a thumbs-up emoji to her mother and puts away her phone. </p><p>     Nami’s sigh was loud enough to alert Sanji. “You okay?” the boy asks.</p><p>     Nami clears her throat, avoiding eye contact with her friend. “I… would be better if Nojiko weren’t coming later.” Nami turns to Sanji and catches his face light up. Sanji then limply extends his arm, clamps his hand into a fist, then retracts his arm into his torso with a whisper of satisfaction. Nami can’t help but titter at the sight.</p><p>     “Robin!” Franky bellows, catching Nami’s attention. “Got anything to add?”</p><p>     Robin, the woodwind director and assistant band director, silently smiles and shakes her head. By God, Robin is <em> beautiful </em>.</p><p>     “Alright!” Mr. Brook butts in. “Go out there and greet your underclassmen! 1, 2, 3…!”</p><p>     “P-M-B!” the body of student leadership half-enthusiastically shouts back. Everyone disperses from there into different sections of the field to separate themselves. The rest of the hornline-- drumline and color guard aren’t on the football field for the first part of the day-- files into the stadium and into their sections. The student leadership team was instructed to wear their respective section color so the underclassmen could discern their section, so Nami was wearing the most orange outfit possible. She already knows some students from last season-- seniors Chiffon and Lola, whom Nami absolutely adored, and junior Tashigi, someone that Nami kept her eye on--  so she pays more attention to the freshmen walking her way. Unfortunately, there was no one new that caught her interest. Oh well; maybe there being no potential object of Nami’s affections in her section was for the best.</p><p>     Nami clasps her hands together and puts the brightest smile on her face as she can at eight o’clock in the morning. She begins addressing her section who has formed a circle around her. “Hey guys! Welcome to the mellophone section. Since we’re already in a circle, let’s go around and say our names, grades, and… Tashigi!”</p><p>     The black-haired, glasses-wearing girl directed her attention to Nami. “Y-yes?” she stammers</p><p>     “Pick a favorite thing we should say.”</p><p>     “Um…” Tashigi begins, reluctantly. “I’m not sure.”</p><p>     “Aw, that’s okay,” Nami reassures Tashigi. Nami found Tashigi’s bashfulness very cute, although there wasn’t anything she had to be embarrassed about. Although this is sometimes to the point of recklessness or carelessness, Tashigi is a strong, confident girl who knows what she wants out of life. She’s quite admirable in Nami’s eyes, and breath-taking to boot. Based on what Zoro has told Nami about her (Zoro and Tashigi are neighbors and often find themselves around each other, even after every attempt to stay away from each other), Tashigi was absolutely sure of what she wanted to talk about (katanas), but she held her tongue for whatever reason.</p><p>     “How about our favorite dessert?” Lola suggests.</p><p>     “Good idea!” Nami agrees. “I’ll go first. Hi, I’m Nami. I’m a sophomore, and also your section leader, and my favorite desserts are orange tarts.”</p><p>     The section continues introducing themselves: Chiffon, senior, chiffon cake. Lola, senior, chocolate. Tashigi, junior, oatmeal raisin cookies. Marianne, freshman, sorbet. Koby, freshman, pudding. After introductions, Nami leads her section through stretches and walks them through marching basics, covering posture and how to move on the field.</p><p>     “Remember to keep your chest expanded and your back straight,” Nami urges while inspecting her peers. “We’re standing, proud to be in the Paradise High School marching band! Or, at least pretending to be.” Her joke earns a few giggles from her section. Success!</p><p>     The rest of the morning is rather slow. The students stay mostly in sectionals, reiterating the marching technique and eventually applying the technique with instruments in hand. They move into areas (all students playing brass instruments in one group, all students on woodwinds in another) led by the area chairs to play a few measures of the marching show’s opening number. Eventually, the entire hornline regroups to receive their attendance dots and first few pages of drill. Spending all of this time without having a chance to talk to Zoro or Sanji is draining Nami of her will to live. Okay, maybe she’s being a bit dramatic, but the point still stands. Thankfully, she’s about to have all of her woes relieved, because…</p><p>     Mr. Brook’s joyous voice is heard once again over the stadium speakers. “Good work, friends!” An assortment of whoops and hollers resonates over the hornline. “Thank you for your work! We made a lot of great progress this morning, and I couldn’t be more proud of you all. As you may or may not know, it is now eleven-thirty AM, which means it’s time for lunch! Go out there and enjoy your first band camp lunch of the season!”</p><p>     The hornline cheers; they can finally shelter from the August sun. Nami dismantles her mellophone and encases it. She gathers her things and looks around the football field, until she finds and literally runs into a tan, muscular boy carrying an oblong instrument case.</p><p>     “Found ya!” Nami exclaims upon impact with the boy, who then stumbles for a bit.</p><p>     “Christ!” the boy barks as he regains his balance. He begins to look back at who bumped into him. “The fuck’s your problem-- oh. It’s just you.”</p><p>     “I almost couldn’t find you since you blend in so well with the field grass, Zoro,” Nami playfully sneers.</p><p>     “Shut the fuck up,” Zoro demands. “You sound like Sanji.”</p><p>     “You say that like you aren’t literally in love with him,” Nami laughs.</p><p>     “Shut up!” he grunts. “I don’t fall in love with every guy I meet, dumbass. I’m not like Sanji.”</p><p>     “Yeah-huh…” Nami hums. “Keep telling yourself that, bud.” Nami scans the football field once more. “Speaking of, where the hell is he? He’s gotta come with us to lunch.”</p><p>     “Do we <em> have </em> to eat lunch with him?” Zoro whines, clearly still ticked off by Nami’s last comment. “He’s so--”</p><p>     “What other friends do we have, Zoro?” Nami interrupts her friend before he can finish his sentence. She looks Zoro in the face and watches him fall silent, unable to come up with a response to her wit. “Exactly,” she finishes. She continues her scan of the field for their friend and, at last, finds him and calls his name. Sanji turns to face the two, waves at them, and jogs towards them. The three friends finally reunite after a long, tiring morning, and make their way into the school building to eat their afternoon meal.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hi im FINALLY updating. whats up yall. i was in a rut mentally for a while but i've gotten over myself &amp; am, at long last, uploading another chapter. i have no idea when im gonna write/publish the next one. yall can suffer along with me /lh<br/>also i may or may not have borrowed dialogue from the actual media.... is that illegal? are copyright whores gonna come for me? well, whatever. ill change it if people get mad. i reeeeeally don't want to tho so... don't snitch :P<br/>edit (1/27/21): same as last chapter; i have changed the name of the school &amp; the formatting of text exchanges</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Midday</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Nami and her friends eat lunch.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>  Nami, Sanji, and Zoro enter the Paradise High School cafeteria and claim a small table near its entrance, the afternoon sun beaming brightly through its windows. The trio sets their instruments on the floor and sits with a collective, exhausted <em> huff </em>. Nami pulls her phone out of her fanny pack and fiddles with it. Sanji takes out a small lunchbox and looks at Zoro, who hasn’t moved since sitting down.</p><p>     “Oi, Marimo,” the blond calls.</p><p>     Zoro, already looking annoyed, lazily turns his head in Sanji’s direction. “The hell do you want, Dart-Brow?” he grunts.</p><p>     “You forgot a lunch, didn’t you?” Sanji asks, a peeved tone in his voice.</p><p>     Zoro pauses, then slumps onto the table, burying his cheek into his arm. “And what about it?”</p><p>     “Here,” Sanji scowls as he opens his lunchbox and pushes some of his lunch’s contents in the other boy’s direction.     </p><p>     “I don’t want your pity food, stupid,” Zoro declines as he props his head onto his palm.</p><p>     “Shut up and take it, you stupid musclehead!” Sanji barks. He sighs, then continues, “Looking at you, period, is already bad enough. I don’t want to have to look at you, hungry, on top of that.”</p><p>     Zoro sits up and hesitantly accepts the partial meal. He sloppily chews through some of the food and gulps it down, looking up at Sanji afterwards. “It’s edible,” he tells Sanji. “A couple more— no, a <em> lot </em> more attempts, and maybe it’ll actually be good, you shit cook.” He smirks and watches Sanji begin to fume.</p><p>     “Fuck off,” Sanji retorts, pressing his palm to his mouth and facing in the opposite direction. He looks down at the table and watches Nami trace a heart shape with her finger on its surface. “Fuck <em> off</em>,” he reiterates through gritted teeth, this time to Nami.</p><p>     Nami chuckles to herself. She always disfavored the two boys’ constant bickering, but sometimes, it was rather entertaining. They were always constantly trying to one-up each other, making every little thing into a competition, but it was interesting how no matter how much they (pretended to) dislike each other, neither of them would stand to see the other discontented by any outside means. They were always fighting, but neither of them <em> actually </em> got hurt. That is just how their relationship works. Nami knows this and finds it rather endearing, but she keeps this thought to herself.</p><p>     “Hey. Got any room for two more?”</p><p>     Nami redirects her gaze up to the voice that halts her thoughts, and sees two boys: one slim, brown-skinned, wearing a blue and white striped wristband; one with shaggy, black hair, a scar under his left eye, wearing a straw hat with a red ribbon. Nami’s face immediately lights up, a big grin on her face.</p><p>     “Usopp!” Nami gasps. She leaves her seat, bounds up to the brown-skinned boy, and hugs his face into her chest. “It’s been so long!”</p><p>     “Um,” Usopp begins, his voice muffled by Nami’s body. “I was at your place, like, a week ago, remember?” He pulls away, but Nami keeps her hand on his shoulder.</p><p>     “Hush, let me be happy,” Nami beams at Usopp, then turns back to her two other friends.  “Zoro! Sanji!”</p><p>     Zoro and Sanji—the former looking unbothered, the latter looking dangerously irritated, likely out of jealousy—concurrently look up at the girl, who is gesturing to the boy under her hand.</p><p>     “This is Usopp,” Nami establishes.</p><p>     “Yo,” Usopp greets, holding up a peace sign.</p><p>     Nami goes on, “He’s a freshman, but he’s one of the good ones, so don’t hate him, okay?” She motions to the boys in front of her and addresses Usopp, “The green one is Zoro, and the yellow one is Sanji.” </p><p>     Usopp points to Zoro, “Did you go to East Blue?”</p><p>     “Yep,” Zoro grunts in confirmation between chews of his half of Sanji’s lunch.</p><p>     Nami smiles; the knowledge that Usopp already recognizes people at Paradise comforts her. She leans forward and looks past Usopp, at the shaggy-haired boy at his opposite side, who, now that she thinks about it, looks vaguely familiar to her. “And, this is…?”</p><p>     “Luffy!” the boy excitedly interjects with the biggest, most blinding smile that Nami has ever seen. “Monkey D. Luffy. Nice to meet you!” He lets out a <em> shishishi </em> giggle, consequently making Nami smile even more. <em> His joy is so ridiculously contagious</em>, Nami mentally notes. <em>It’s like he hasn’t changed since middle school.</em></p><p>     “Oh, my God,” Zoro marvels. Everyone turns to him, and Nami feels like she can see the gears turning inside of his skull. “You’re the one that punched Charlos!”</p><p>     “Oh, yeah,” Luffy chuckles, bringing his hand up to the nape of his neck. “Sixth grade was one hell of a year... Couldn’t be helped, though; he was being a real asshole to one of my friends.”</p><p>     Zoro full on belly-laughs, “So you <em> assaulted </em> him? ‘Cause he was being mean to your friend? Knowing he’s the son of the superintendent?”</p><p>     Luffy laughs back, “Actually, I had no idea who he was until I got in trouble.” He picks a seat at the table and sits in it, successfully establishing himself as part of the group. “But, uh, yeah. I did. Why? Is that weird?”</p><p>     “Who are you, the son of the devil?” Zoro smirks. He takes a swig from his water jug and excess fluid dribbles down his chin. Sanji <em> tsks </em> at the sight of the mess Zoro has made.</p><p>     “Not sure,” Luffy shrugs, dismissively. “I never knew my folks, so… Not that I care, though.” He opens a brown paper bag, takes out a resealable plastic bag filled with food, and starts eating its contents. Usopp sits beside him and Nami returns to her seat. All of them watch Luffy eat his lunch, and Nami is mentally taken aback by the fact that he was able to say he never knew his parents so nonchalantly, without a care in the world. Luffy is one interesting kid.</p><p>     Sanji gives a closer inspection to Luffy’s lunch, first looking at the plastic bag he was eating from, then quickly snatching the paper bag and rustling through it. He looks tremendously discombobulated. “What the hell… Is this entire thing just sandwich meat?!” he exclaims, staring at Luffy.</p><p>     “Not <em> all </em> of it, Sanji!” Luffy replies in a very matter-of-fact tone, as if it is perfectly normal for the majority of one’s lunch to be lunch meat. He continues eating from the plastic bag he had already taken out (which is filled with deli chicken) and wags his finger at his paper bag. “I think there’s some rice in there, too.”</p><p>     “You <em> think? </em>You don’t even know?” Sanji interrogates, visibly growing more and more frustrated. He grabs the paper bag by its bottom and flips it upside-down, and out tumbles a small, plastic water bottle, one bag of roast beef, one bag of sliced turkey, one bag of ham, and, sure enough, there was a plastic bag filled with rice. “Mother of God,” he exhales, making his fists full of his own hair.</p><p>     “Oh, my God, it’s not even in a container,” Usopp states, trying to stifle his laughter. Nami can’t help but chuckle herself.</p><p>     “Is that wrong?” Zoro genuinely asks. He looks honestly confused as to why putting rice in a plastic bag as opposed to a proper container is incorrect.</p><p>     “Of course <em> you </em>would think this makes sense, you oaf,” Sanji mocks, making Zoro flip him off. He addresses Luffy once more, “Where the hell are the vegetables?”</p><p>     “I don’t like the way they taste, so I don’t eat ‘em,” Luffy plainly responds.</p><p>     Sanji appears more defeated with every sentence that leaves Luffy’s mouth. “You can’t just not eat vegetables, dumbass!” Sanji admonishes. His voice loses its irritated, lecturing tone as he continues, “Look. I’ll make some vegetables tonight and bring them for you tomorrow.” Luffy whines at Sanji’s proposition and Sanji rolls his eyes. He goes on, “You’ll like them. I promise.”</p><p>     “Sanji’s the best cook we know,” Nami butts in, smiling. “Right, Zoro?”</p><p>     Zoro looks at Nami, then at Sanji, then back at Nami and makes a sour face. He finishes eating and gets up to throw his trash away.</p><p>    Sanji’s anger reignites. “Say something, asshole!” he nearly shouts at Zoro, who pays no mind. Usopp cracks up at the two boys’ antics.</p><p>     “Whoa, you can cook?” Luffy asks with an astonished face.</p><p>     “Uh, yeah,” Sanji replies, running his fingers through his hair.</p><p>     Luffy gasps, then beams, “You’re so cool!” He regathers his lunch—if you can even call it that—that had since been scattered across the lunch table and starts scarfing down the rice with his bare hands.</p><p>     Sanji rolls his eyes, "I only accept praise from women.” Despite his hostility, Nami catches him smiling, looking down at the table below him.</p><p>     Nami smiles at Luffy’s comment to Sanji, then feels a hand clutch her shoulder. “Hey, shit-head,” she hears a girl say behind her. She turns her head and sees a familiar periwinkle-haired girl holding an orange lunchbox.</p><p>     “Nojiko!” Sanji exclaims, looking up at Nami’s older sister.</p><p>     Nami snatches the lunchbox out of Nojiko’s hand. “Why’d you come inside?” she criticizes.</p><p>     “The doors were open and you weren’t answering your phone,” Nojiko answers, nonverbally greeting Usopp, who waves back. Zoro returns, and he and Nojiko nod at each other, acknowledging one another’s presence. Nojiko smiles at Sanji, practically making him melt as a result. She goes on, “I called you, like, ten times!”</p><p>     “Really?” Nami ponders. She picks up her phone, which was left neglected on the lunch table, and turns it on. She scans it briefly, rolls her eyes, then turns it off and places it back on the table. “You only called me once.”</p><p>     “Well, whatever,” Nojiko dismisses, then prepares to take off. “I’m gonna go talk to some of the seniors. Later.” She begins to walk away and Nami watches her leave.</p><p>     “Bye, Nojiko!” Sanji chirps. Nojiko briefly turns over her shoulder and shoots Sanji a soft smile, then turns away and walks off. A subtle, lovestruck groan escapes Sanji’s lips.</p><p>     Nami continues to watch her sister walk away and into a slender, pretty girl. The girl has her wavy, light blue hair tied into a high ponytail, with two shorter strands framing her face. Nami watches her give Nojiko a dirty look as she tries to apologize for bumping into her, wave her hand dismissively in Nojiko’s face, then saunter in the opposite direction. Unknowingly, this mystery girl has caught Nami’s attention, and Nami watches her as she weaves through the cafeteria furniture and into the bathroom.</p><p><em>      What a bitch</em>.</p><p>     “Sheesh, why are there so many pretty girls here?” Sanji whistles. Nami turns towards him and notices that he is looking at the bathroom, too.</p><p>     “Were you watching her, too?” Nami questions her friend.</p><p>     “How could I <em> not </em> watch such beauty?” Sanji preaches in response, earning an eye-roll from Nami.</p><p>     “She looks really familiar,” Usopp adds, involuntarily confirming that the blue-haired girl had caught his eye as well. He pulls out his phone from the yellow satchel he has been carrying, spends a few moments looking at its screen, then hums and nods his head. He continues speaking, “That’s gotta be Nefertari Vivi.”</p><p>     Nami’s eyes widen as she repeats the girl’s possible surname, “Nefertari… wait. Nefertari, like, Nefertari Industries?” </p><p>     “Yup,” the boy hums in confirmation. He turns his screen to Sanji and Nami, who in turn lean forward to look at the photo displayed on his phone: a family consisting of a tall, tan-skinned man, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the blue-haired girl, and a little girl standing in front of the aforementioned two, all with smiling faces. Usopp continues, “Her dad,—” he points to the man, “—Nefertari Cobra, is the CEO of Nefertari Industries. I read somewhere that it’s a family-run business, and he’s, like, the twelfth CEO.”</p><p>     “Then, is that Vivi?” Sanji asks, pointing to the woman on Cobra’s left.</p><p>     Usopp briefly reviews the screen, then shakes his head. He returns the screen to Nami and Sanji, points to the child, and goes on, “That one’s Vivi. The one you were talking about is Nefertari Titi. I think she died a couple years ago, so this picture’s probably old.”</p><p>     “Wait a second,” Nami interrupts. “If her dad’s the CEO of Nefertari Industries, wouldn’t Vivi be, like, rich or something?”</p><p>     “Probably,” Usopp answers. Nami’s face sours.</p><p>     Rich. Nami hates rich people. There is no reason for people to hoard their wealth, especially since people like herself and her family are constantly struggling because of the lack of it. Nami has had her fair share of experience with wealth-hoggers—namely Arlong—and, as a result, she finds the rich reprehensible by all definitions of the word, and the attitude of the girl she suspects to be Nefertari Vivi only reinforces this sentiment. However, she can't help but be envious of them; she has ninety-nine problems, and money would solve at least eighty-seven of them.</p><p>     Nami begins to lament on her money-caused woes; her family is living paycheck to paycheck, Nojiko can’t sleep at night because she always takes night shifts, and marching band is going to take a large chunk out of rent, even with the program-provided scholarships. Nami opens her lunchbox and removes its contents, unconsciously shrinking her seat in the process.</p><p>     “You okay?” Sanji calls, placing a hand on Nami’s shoulder.</p><p>     Nami looks up at Sanji, sits up, and forces a smile. “Just thinking.”</p><p>     The suspicion doesn’t leave Sanji’s eyes, but he doesn’t press any further. He turns back to Usopp, “In any case, if she’s so rich, what’s she doing at a public school? In <em> marching band? </em>”</p><p>     “Who knows?” Usopp begins. “Perhaps she’s here to mingle with the common folk,” he continues in a pish-posh voice. Nami laughs at the mockery, but the joke doesn’t seem to have landed on Sanji.</p><p>     “What the hell, dude?” Sanji presses, anger lingering in his eyes.</p><p>     “What?” Usopp asks with worry in his voice.</p><p>     “You think it’s funny to diss a woman like that? A <em> woman?</em>” Sanji nearly jumps out of his seat as he exclaims, “I oughta kick the shit out of you for talking so badly about Vivi!”</p><p>     “H-hey, why are you talking about her like you know her or something?” Usopp whimpers, cowering from Sanji, who shows no signs of letting up. “Alright, man, I’m sorry!” the younger boy yelps. </p><p>     Sanji looks like he’s about to rip Usopp’s head off. “I—”</p><p>     “Calm down, idiot.” The entire group turns to look at Zoro, who interrupted Sanji and has now grabbed his forearm. Not looking up, he finishes, “She’s not gonna fuck you.”</p><p>     “You...!” Sanji begins, turning tomato-faced. Usopp and Nami laugh and Luffy full-on <em>guffaws</em>. Sanji collects his lunch, instrument, and water. “Well, whatever,” he grumbles. “I’m gonna head to sectionals early.”</p><p>     “Lunch doesn’t even end for another twenty minutes, though,” Usopp interjects.</p><p>     “I can’t be here anymore,” Sanji huffs. “If I’m around this algae asshole for one more second, I think I’ll lose brain matter.”</p><p>     “If you’re mad that you can’t get any girls, just say that,” Zoro shrugs, taking another glug from his water jug.</p><p>     “Fuck you!”</p><p>     “You wish.”</p><p>     “I...!” Sanji tenses his shoulders and sighs, “Whatever! See you guys around.”</p><p>     “Bye, Sanji!” Luffy beams at Sanji as he walks away. Sanji turns to the boy, smiles, and continues on his way. Luffy collects the array of now-empty plastic bags and makes his way to the trash can.</p><p><em>      What the fuck, </em> Nami thinks to herself. <em> How the hell did he eat </em> that <em> much meat that quickly? </em> </p><p>     Luffy returns, laughing, “Man, you guys are so funny!”</p><p>     “Yeah, <em> we </em> are,” Zoro smirks. “Ol’ curly-brow on the other hand… He’s just a dumbass.”</p><p>     Luffy furrows his eyebrows. “I think Sanji’s funny—Whoa!” He interrupts himself and points at a sandwich among Nami’s lunch. “That looks super yum!”</p><p>     “‘Yum?’” Nami says, picking up the sandwich in question. “It’s just a ham-and-cheese.” She limply lifts it in Luffy’s direction and asks, “You want it?”</p><p>     “Really?!” Luffy gasps, promptly snatching the sandwich out of Nami’s grasp. “Thank you!” He barely gets his last sentence out before he almost <em> inhales </em> the sandwich.</p><p>     “Oh, my God, Luffy,” Usopp scolds. “You’re gonna choke if you keep eating like that!”</p><p>     “Well, I’ve been eating like this all my life and I haven’t choked yet, so…” Luffy grumbles in a childish manner.</p><p>     “That doesn’t mean you should keep doing it!” Usopp chastises, then slumps over onto the table. “Can you believe this guy, Zoro?”</p><p>     “Unbelievable…” Zoro sighs, resting his cheek in his palm, a cheeky smile on his face.</p><p>     <em> Of course Zoro would look at him like that, </em> Nami thinks. <em> Kid’s right up his alley</em>. She shakes her thoughts away and eats the parts of her lunch that haven’t been eaten by Luffy.</p><p>     The remainder of lunch is pleasant. The remaining four exchange phone numbers and Snapchat usernames, Zoro giving Sanji’s in his absence. A Snapchat group chat entitled “Fruit Basket” now consists of Nami, Sanji, Zoro, and new members Usopp and Luffy. The four share (Luffy steals from) their lunches, stories from middle school, and laughs as lunch comes to a close. Luffy and Usopp walk back to where percussion sectionals are being held, and Nami walks Zoro to where the trombones have theirs.</p><p>     “You didn’t have to walk all the way over here,” Zoro grunts in discontent.</p><p>     “You know I can’t trust you to walk here by yourself!” Nami retorts. “You’ll wander to God knows where and hang around in the wrong spot until dinnertime.”</p><p>     “That only happened once, asshole.” the boy huffs.</p><p>     Nami sighs, exasperated, “The fact that it happened <em> at all </em> is the problem!” The two round a corner and see a group of trombonists already noodling around with their instruments, with one student waving Zoro over. “Look, we’re here.”</p><p>     Zoro grumbles, “Yeah, I can tell.”</p><p>     “Oh, my God,” Nami chuckles. “Bitchy today, are we?” Zoro rolls his eyes, but Nami goes on, “Alright, my section’s probably waiting for me. Catch ya later.”</p><p>     “Yeah, yeah.” Zoro half-jogs over to the group of students, and Nami walks in the opposite direction.</p><p>     As Nami weaves through Paradise’s halls, she reflects on the first lunch of the marching season. She looks back on Sanji and Zoro’s bickering, Usopp and Luffy becoming part of their group, and the rich girl who accidentally walked into Nojiko, and in turn, Nami’s headspace, Nefertari Vivi.</p><p>     It would really be nice to have money.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>ahh so sorry this is out so late! i wanted to have this out by the end of last month, but, against my best wishes, life happened. anyway, i hope you enjoyed this chapter! kudos &amp; comments are appreciated :)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ahh thank you so much for reading!! leave kudos/comments if you'd like, i'd really appreciate it!! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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